Biography

German-born explorer and collector of natural history objects in Bolivia. José Steinbach came in 1904 from Lindlar, Germany (his German name was Joseph Steinbach Kemmerich), to Bolivia, where he spent the next 25 years restlessly exploring the country's flora and fauna. Based near Buena Vista, now the gateway to the Amboro National Park, he was among the first to penetrate the Bolivian Chapare rainforest area. He sold his natural history collections to museums and universities around the world, preparing and labelling them to a professional standard. His botanical collections were copious and more than 30 species have been dedicated to him.

As well as plants, Steinbach collected all sorts of zoological specimens. The Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh acquired a large nest of the dangerous Bolivian wasp, Chartergus chartarius, from him and in 1920, some 3,000 bird skins (it is said that by this time he had collected more than 10,000 of them in Bolivia). There is also an important series of birds collected by him in the National Museum in Buenos Aires. Steinbach's large collections remaining in Bolivia formed the basis of the Museum of Natural History in Cochabamba in 1930 (just before his death at the early age of 56), comprising around 100,000 insects, a herbarium of 5,000 different plant species, 800 birds, 140 reptiles and 100 mammals.

When Steinbach settled in Bolivia, he settled for good, taking Bolivian citizenship and marrying a Bolivian woman, Doña Juana Moreno Jimenez, with whom he had nine children. The Steinbach family is still a well known name of high standing in the country. Though rarely in the United States or Europe, José Steinbach achieved considerable recognition in both and corresponded extensively with scientists at the institutions to which he sent his collections. He was a member of the North American National Geographic Society in Washington, the Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh and the American Museum of Natural History in New York. His grandson, Roy F. Steinbach, also collected specimens in the 1960s, from areas including Buena Vista, Hierba Buena and Comarapa.

Sources:
Anon, 1930, "Editorial Notes and News", Copeia, 4: 162
Anon, 1931, "José Steinbach", El Hornero, 4: 435-436
V.A. Funk and Scott A. Mori, 1989, A Bibliography of Plant Collectors in Bolivia: 16
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, A Century of Exploration:
http://carnegiemuseums.org/cmag/bk_issue/1996/mayjun/feat4.htm, accessed 6 December 2011
Geschichtes Boliviens 1925 bis 1932:
http://www.payer.de/bolivien2/bolivien0216.htm, accessed 6 December 2011
New York Botanic Garden, History of the Collections:
www.nybg.org/botany/nee/ambo/Coll.html, accessed 6 December 2011
Portal de Buena Vista, Parque Amboró, Joseph Steinbach:
http://buenavista.com.bo/usuario/paginatexto.php?cdg=37, accessed 6 December 2011.